The present invention relates to tunable and reconfigurable molecules and materials, and more specifically, to tunable and reconfigurable solid state molecules and materials.
A tunable metamaterial could be a material with a variable response to an incident electromagnetic (EM) wave (such as a radio frequency (RF) wave or an optical frequency wave). A tunable metamaterial also could be a material arranged in a relationship with a local applied voltage, externally applied heat, plasma, chemical reactions, and the like. The foregoing are various physical properties that can be used in certain combinations to form a tunable material. For example, remote control of an EM wave may be used to regulate how an incident EM wave interacts with a metamaterial; such remote control can also be combined with a local voltage or any one of the physical entities mentioned above.
Tunable metamaterials include a lattice structure of unit cells. The lattice structure of the tunable metamaterial is adjustable in real time, which makes it possible to reconfigure during operation. Reconfigurable and tunable materials may be used in various applications, including RF and infrared (IR) applications, quantum computing/cryptography/optics, and even spintronics. More specifically, a polar molecule can behave as a reconfigurable material. The rotation of the polarity (of the polar molecule) can induce separation of polarization states of light or separation of electrons with different spins.
Polar molecules can be in the liquid state (liquid polar molecules) or in the solid state (solid state polar molecules). In the case of both liquid polar molecules and solid state polar molecules, the polar molecule interacts with a local potential (voltage), or the polar molecule may be aligned with the polarization of the incident EM wave. This alignment can be combined with feedback control in a dynamic manner, which is why adaptive rotational anisotropy is achieved. The liquid polar molecule still has the symmetry of an ellipsoid, but in addition, it has positive and negative charges (local charges) along that ellipsoid symmetry. Thus, the distinction, between the neutral ellipsoid in liquid crystals and the polar molecule ellipsoid, is the local potential that causes the interactions with external fields and therefore causes rotation of the polar molecule and therefore the anisotropy.
Anisotropy is when the dielectric, magnetic, and/or thermal properties of a material are different in different directions. In an isotropic material, the electric, magnetic, and thermal properties are the same in all directions. For example, the transmissivity or reflectivity of an isotropic material is the same in any direction. In an anisotropic material, the transmissivity (of an EM field, for example) or reflectivity is different in different directions, which means that the reflection and transmission coefficients are different in different directions, inside the material. In another example, heat flow is different in all directions in anisotropic materials, whereas heat flow in isotropic materials is the same in all directions. In the foregoing examples, the properties are fixed.
Rotational anisotropy means that the dielectric, magnetic, and/or thermal properties of the material depend on the orientation of the anisotropy, which is rotational. In such a case, the reflection and/or transmission coefficients are also rotational. Accordingly, the polar molecule dynamically rotates, which occurs through interactions with a control voltage, local or incident voltage, or both. Rotational anisotropy can be controlled with external potentials or feedback controls in a dynamic or adaptive manner; this is why the polar molecules (liquid and solid) have advantages in some specific applications compared to the neutral ellipsoid in liquid crystal structures. Embodiments of the invention described in detail below are focused on the solid state polar molecule, which exhibits rotational anisotropy, and in many cases rotational anisotropy in an adoptive manner. Furthermore, other embodiments described in further detail below, relate to the overall design of the solid rotational polar molecule, which has advantages over liquid polar molecules.